History

Origin

A military department was created by the supreme government of the British East India Company at Kolkata in the year 1776.[13] Its main function was to co-ordinate and record orders, relating to the army, issued by various departments of the government of the East India Company. The Military Department initially functioned as a branch of the Public Department and maintained a list of army personnel.[13]

The supreme authority over the Indian Army was vested in the Governor General-in-Council, subject to the control of the Crown, which was exercised by the Secretary of State for India. Two members in the Council were responsible for military affairs. One was the Military Member, who supervised all administrative and financial matters. The other was the commander-in-chief who was responsible for all operational matters.[13] The Military Department was abolished in March 1906 and was replaced by two separate departments; the Army Department and the Military Supply Department. In April 1909 the Military Supply Department was abolished and its functions were taken over by the Army Department. The Army Department was redesignated as the Defence Department in January 1938. The Department of Defence became the Ministry of Defence under a cabinet minister in August 1947.[13]

Post independences changes

The functions of MoD which in 1947 was mainly logistic support to the armed forces, has undergone far reaching changes. In November 1962, following the 1962 war, a Department of Defence Production was set-up to deal with research, development and production of defence equipment. In November 1965, the Department of Defence Supplies was created for planning and execution of schemes for import substitution of requirements for defence purposes. These two Departments were later merged to form the Department of Defence Production and Supplies.

In 1980, the Department of Defence Research and Development was created. In January 2004, the Department of Defence Production and Supplies was renamed the Department of Defence Production. A Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister was appointed to advise on scientific aspects of military equipment and the research and design of defence forces equipment. The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare was created in 2004.

Organisation

Departments

The Ministry of Defence consists of four Departments; Department of Defence, Department of Defence Production, Department of Defence Research and Development, and Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare. The Defence Secretary functions as head of the Department of Defence,[14][15] and is additionally responsible for coordinating the activities of the four Departments in the Ministry.[14][15]

Integrated Defence Staff

To ensure a high degree of synergy between the Armed forces, the Government has set up the Integrated Defence Staff, headed by the Chief of Integrated Staff as the Chairman. It was created on 1 October 2001 based on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers which was set up in 2000 (post-Kargil) to review India's defence management.[19] It acts as the point organisation for integration of policy, doctrine, war fighting and procurement by employing best management practices. The current Chief of Integrated Defence Staff is Lieutenant General P S Rajeshwar, who took over on 1 November 2018.[20]

Chiefs of Staff Committee

"Chiefs of Staff are the authority for advising the Defence Minister and normally through him the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on all military matters which require ministerial consideration". The Integrated Defence Staff is '"the principal arm and Secretariat to the Chiefs of Staff Committee"[21][22]

Strategic Information Services/Tactical Intelligence Division

SIS/TID is a highly classified division within the walls of Ministry of Defence under the Government of India. Very limited information is available for this division.

Role

The responsibility for national defence "rests with the Cabinet, which is discharged through the Ministry of Defence, which provides the policy framework and wherewithal to the Armed Forces to discharge their responsibilities in the context of the defence of the country. The Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) is the head of the Ministry of Defence."[13]

The Defence Ministry is responsible for "obtaining policy directions of the Government on all defence and security related matters" and communicating these directions to "Services Headquarters, Inter-Services Organisations, Production Establishments and Research and Development Organisations".[13] The MoD works closely with the National Security Council, Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Charter of duties includes secondary logistic and administrative functions.

Senior officials

There are about 400,000 defence civilians, under the MOD including Ministry of Finance personnel attached to MOD. In 2015–16 Defence pension bill was ₹54,500 crore (equivalent to ₹590 billion or US$8.5 billion in 2018) of which about 36 per cent was on account of defence civilians.[66]

Finance Division

The Finance Division of the Ministry of Defence is headed by the Financial Adviser (Defence Services). He or she exercises financial control over proposals involving expenditure from the Defence Budget and is responsible for the internal audit and accounting of defence expenditure. In the latter tasks, he or she is assisted by the Controller General of Defence Accounts.